“Spirited Away: Live on Stage” made its first appearance in North America Sunday. 

This stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 film “Spirited Away” marks the second event from the line-up of Studio Ghibli Fest. This festival celebrates Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films, running from March to November and showing a total of 11 Ghibli movies. 

“Spirited Away: Live on Stage” is a production that is written and directed by Tony award winner John Caird, who also directed “Les Misréables.” The play toured Japan in 2022 where it was filmed and is now making it onto North American movie theater screens for the first time for a total of four days. 

The first two days feature a different cast than the last two days. Sunday’s performance featured Kanna Hashimoto as Chihiro, the main character of the movie. 

In the movie, Chihiro finds her way into the spirit world after her parents get turned into pigs from eating food they were not welcomed to. From there, she explores a magical world ruled by gods and sorcerers who are not kind to humans. Chihiro learns the power of identity and friendship and does what she must to save her parents. 

The stage adaptation brings new elements of magic to Miyazaki’s beloved film and delights audiences with its creativity and witty imagination. As a 23-year-old woman, Hashimoto had the difficult task of portraying a 10-year-old girl. Despite the obvious age difference, Hashimoto carried over Chihiro’s stubbornness and bold heart into her performance, making fans of “Spirited Away” fall in love with Chihiro in a different, new way. 

Stand out performances were Mari Natsuki as Yubaba and Tomohiko Tsujimoto as Kaonashi (No Face). Natsuki plays Yubaba, the evil sorceress who rules the spirit realm. Natsuki hit the nail on the head with Yubaba’s intimidating demeanor and witchy voice, making it obvious that the performer did her research. 

Tsujimoto plays everyone’s favorite character from the movie, a character who stays silent throughout most of the production and needs an actor who can depict emotions through movement only. Tsujimoto does exactly that and relies on head movements and subtle hand gestures to personate a curious spirit with no face. When Kaonashi becomes a hungry spirit who grows in size, several actors then control his movements and his mask, adding to the depth the production team put into the play. 

The stage adaptation was filmed last year at Tokyo’s Imperial Theatre, and used one stage throughout its two hour and 55 minute run time. The stage set was able to transform into several backgrounds such as Yubaba’s bathhouse, Yubaba’s office and the dorm house that Chihiro stayed in with Lin. All the sets were colorful, and the costumes for each spirit were well thought out, matching exactly to the original film’s look. 

For example, the Radish Spirit was only on stage for a few minutes, being the spirit that rides in the elevator with Chihiro as she’s on her way to meet Yubaba. The character’s scenes were identical to the film’s, making me appreciate Caird even more as he tried to line up the stage adaptation with the movie. 

One obvious facet of the play was the music. The live orchestra played throughout the entire runtime, emphasizing the tone and emotions of the actors. The orchestra’s sophisticated sound split between lyrical, melancholy tunes and uplifting, biphonic sound. 

The stage adaptation beautifully spinned Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” and enhanced the magic and wonder that comes with the story.  

The last showings of “Spirited Away: Live on Stage” will be April 27 and May 2. Click here to find showtimes nearby.